Así se entrenan físicamente los jugadores élite de pickleball y tenis | Emiliano Berta

0:00Well, here we are learning about Pball with Emiliano Berta for the third time. [laughs] Hi, Carlito, how are you? How are you, Jemy? Okay, tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got started in the world of training and how, after I ask you several questions, this led you to Poker? Well, uh, let's see, I think the world of training is a little bit because of my parents who are both involved in everything related to

0:26physical preparation, uh, I 'm Uruguayan, so obviously in Uruguay. Uh, and well, my father has been involved in physical education his whole life, especially in gymnastics, and my mother... Well, at first I was a bit reluctant to get into the training itself, but after a while I realized what I liked and today it's what I do , what I'm passionate about, luckily. So I owe that a little bit to them.

1:00Here comes one from Yabú. Before we begin, could you tell us a little more about the forward training you did before and after you graduated from university? Uh, well, as you know, together at the university. Well, I graduated in 2018, in December, and then in 2019 in January I was already in Houston, and I was in Houston for 3 years and I worked for two different academies. Hm. Uh, one of them was Jimalba Rocket Club,

1:41which I was working on with Sami Jimalba, who was, I mean, I think Sami was number 20, number 30 in the world. Hey, he's quite a bit older than us, Sami. Mm. And then I spent a year working with Egani Corollev, who had also opened an academy in Houston. Uh, and Gani was, I think, ranked 40th or 45th in the world at the time, uh, and in both academies he was always in charge of the

2:15physical conditioning part for the boys. Uh, the myth of the academy with the theme of the film is a little more difficult. Uh, a lot of kids driving, uh, a lot of kids who don't want to be there, but are there because their parents force them. Well, then, those are different fields in academia and the field I'm working in today here at Power. Hey, I was telling you that two years ago

2:46my wife and I moved to Florida looking for new opportunities to continue growing. Uh, and well, I found that Florida, and specifically Boca Raton and Delry Beach here, is full of tennis, full of picks, uh, I mean, I did n't imagine there would be so much. So I think we arrived at the right place after wanting to see where we were going, wanting to look for some opportunities, a city a little more beachy, since we

3:21were used to the beach in Uruguay, so, well, happy and content here. I don't know if I would move anywhere else in the country today. Thanks, Pit. I mean, you have to visit. I have to visit you. You're right. to visit. So, if you're in those academies that were more like a daycare, it was difficult, it was difficult to understand your students because some wanted it a lot, others didn't want it at

3:52all. So, how did the opportunity for forward training come about? Did you seek it out, or did you move to Bocaraton, or maybe Red V, I think, in Bocaraton, and then go and get a forward training position? Well, actually, what is forward, uh, power training, uh, he spoke about it just a year ago, we're not in August, a year and a month ago, a year and two months ago. So, this is

4:22quite recent. In fact, I'm here right now at the location. Uh, the owner of the place is Fran Herrero. And when I moved to Florida, looking for work, looking for people to work with and so on, one of the people I met and connected with was Franco. Justo Franco was going to the US Open with Tommy Paul, and he needed someone to leave the players he had here with. I had other

4:54pros, I also had some juniors on the tour . So, it just so happened that we connected, it just so happened that he had to leave, he left his boys with me, and I think he received good feedback from everyone. So we started working like that. When he returned, we continued working together. In fact, he was a little overwhelmed, he didn't have enough hours in the day to catch all the people he had. So, he also

5:18took advantage of the situation to recruit more people, uh, passing a lot of people to me, with a lot of people working between the two of us, but we were in an environment where we would go here to work with one, we would go here to work with the other, people would come to my complex to use my gym, to work with them or my tennis court to do the movement part. Then there came a time

5:38when Franco was already thinking about setting up his own gym, his own place, so that everyone could come to us and we wouldn't have to go everywhere. Uh, it was set up in places actually and for a year and a month, two months we've been operating here full time, full time. Uh, and to be honest, we haven't done quite well. We're pretty full. I imagine that driving to different places in South Florida meant you spent

6:16about 3 hours in the car a day. Daily. Yes. Yes, because driving from the king to, I don't know, Ppanos is 30 minutes because of traffic and another place, I mean, the traffic is crazy, literally it was working an hour and a quarter, an hour and a half with one player, travel 25, 30 minutes, work with another, travel 25, 30 minutes, work with another. So in the end you were doing

6:435 or 6 hours a day and you had spent 10 hours outside with so much driving. But well, at the time it had to be done, it was done, and thanks to that at the time we have what we have today, as a place and so on. There to give it to Franco, there I saw that when you were doing my research that your first player was Idopela, who was one of the top favorites a couple

7:12of years ago. Yes, I think he was helping him for a couple of years. Uh, that's quite a bit back, I think 10 years, something like that more or less. Yes, but he was with Guido, he was also with Mónica at one point, Mónica Puig has had several players before Power became what he is today. Forward, for those who don't know, in the world of tennis you train JW Johnson, Georgia Johnson, Milan Rain, Ericins,

7:50and in tennis every time I go on Instagram and see a story of you, you 're with Victoria Zarenca, with Tommy Paul, with the other one, with the other one, I mean, everyone goes to Forward Training, brother. Yes. Uh, the truth is that we've created a work culture that allows us, well, to have people with faces like Tommy Paul, like Vica, like Jeda, like Georgia for Pleball too. Uh, we also have Parris, we all

8:28a nice little group of picket bowers, really. Uh, that's really catchy. Well, but we 've also created a bit of a culture where you come here to work, you work, you do what you have to do, and you don't just go around , nobody comes here to play around. He knows that once you enter here, that system is also a bit contagious because suddenly you see Tomy working in one corner, suddenly

8:58you see Bica working in another corner, and in that other corner you see the Johnsons working. Then everyone gets caught up in that cycle of working and coming to work and coming to work. And I think that's been very positive for us too, both as a gym and as a training place for everyone. It's amazing to walk in there and see everyone, and when JW Johnson is there, Tommy Paul knows who JW Johnson is,

9:33everyone's on their own, right? In other words, yes, they know each other; each one knows who's who. Well, but generally we have a work system where we take the kids either alone or in A2 groups, and sometimes we don't, but depending on the schedules we also try to have the Picketball players and the tennis players for training purposes. Uh, we have certain days when we work on strength training. We'll get into that a bit more later,

10:10but we have days where we work on strength training, where mixing them isn't so important, but then we have other days where we work on movement on the court, where we need to keep them a bit more separate because each sport has different approaches . Uh, but I also think it's really good when it's for the juniors, for the kids, especially the tennis players, uh, well we have people from I

10:42think the youngest we have is 8 years old, uh, up to players like Tommy, to name a few. So, I think it's also really good for them, for the little ones, to come in and see people they see on TV playing. Sure, I think that's good for them too and it motivates them. It motivates them. I ask the question because on social media the hatred between the peak and tennis is so

11:09great and it's like wow, but at the end of the day the players, of course, there are different levels. Tennis is still much more popular than pickleball and what it earns is much more different than pickleball, but the fact that they both train in the same place seems incredible to me. And there I saw that they have a pickable court in the warehouse or the gym, and you use it for

11:38physical conditioning for tennis and for pickle play. Yes, we use them for both. Uh, the idea behind that space was more than anything, well, just what the company called Power Social is also about, which is the company that focuses on all aspects of social media content for both tennis players and pickle bowlers. So, at first the idea was a bit for the content theme, to use the Pickel Ball court. Well, in the end,

12:10since it's a hard tennis court, we do all the drills on the side of the court, and it doesn't matter if it's for tennis or for pickle work, because in the end what you need is the space to do the drills and nothing more. But I think it's quite good for pickle workers, since we have the court when we need to do some specific work, like getting the measurements right and so on. And

12:42now that you were explaining to me that, by force, the two different disciplines can do the same thing, but in terms of movement, what is the biggest difference? two or three differences that can be very noticeable when watching, especially since Pickble focuses mainly on doubles. But, for you, what's the difference when a pickable player comes and when a tennis player comes? What are the biggest differences there? Well, as I was saying, let's see, what

13:14's the strength part, what's the core part, what's the injury prevention part, uh, at the end of the day we work or are developing athletes, right? Hey, it doesn't matter if they play baseball or tennis, or at the end of the day you're focused on an athlete. So, everything related to strength, injuries, core strength , power, is worked on in a very similar way. Even if I didn't say the same. Well, we do

13:46make quite a difference because, as you rightly said, the P is much more focused on the doubles side than on the singles side. Uh, the topic of specific movements. Uh, they work, well, when they're in the kitchen, a lot of lateral movements, a lot of shafos, a lot of crossovers. Well , we have people like Dylan, Dylan Fraser, who also works here, and you know there are a lot of pickles who come from tennis,

14:20but you also have a lot of pickles who don't come from tennis, they have other sports like baseball, for example. Dylan comes from baseball. Today I had a guy named Wet who trains with the Ballas Splash Wown, no, sorry, he's with the Ranchers, not with Dallas. He's playing with Eric 11. Correct, correct. Another boy who also comes from cross-country and baseball. So yes, there are certain movements that are harder for the kids when they're not selling

14:59the tennis than when they are, because there's also a lot of basic work involved, like groundstrokes, which the pick has to have because there are times when you're both playing in the kitchen and times when you're playing on the baseline. Clear. Uh, so there are certain things that are very similar when they're playing from the baseline, but once they get into the kitchen, it 's a completely different game. M. So, uh, with the pickle warlers

15:32when they're on the baseline, well, a lot of what is close stens work, a lot of what is open stens work because they do it continuously, and then when they're in the kitchen, a lot of what is cross steps, lateral steps, uh, entering, exiting, uh, and things like that, but at the end of the day, all the speed work, all the running technique work , all the pleometry work, all the dynamic balance work, and so

16:08we work on it in both sports pretty much equally. And you, like, you start in tennis and you, for these things you learned about the pickable, do you learn it and pick it up as you watch them play, or do you take a course about it and just pick up and apply things you learned from university or things you've learned from tennis? How do you feel about that change? Well, with PB when I started

16:42working with the CHB, I think the first people I worked with were Georgia Johnson and Milly Rain. Uh, I didn't really have much of an idea about the P. So, to be honest, a lot of things, well, obviously nowadays I know all the rules, nowadays I know when to stick what , when not to stick what, when to go into the kitchen, when to go out, I didn't have my idea. So, I learned all those

17:09things from them. And because at the same time Jab started there and well, the boys were asking him, talking to the boys, exchanging what they thought, handing over what I thought. In fact, even today we have certain exchanges with them, even, well, with all the guys I have, certain exchanges of, hey, this ball hit him like this, hey, this ball hit him like this, f. I think this ball is

17:41better hit this way. This ball is better hit like this. And so it's been a sort of mutual development from me to them, from them to me, and little by little we've been putting together ideas together. So the truth is it's a nice process because we 're already working with the kids, we've been working with them for almost a year and a half now, I'd say. Uh, so I think it was a lot of

18:09learning about what was specific to PW, me from them and then just studying them, watching them play, uh watching Pico on TV, more than anything I watch the guys play because you have to see them play and also watching them all day afterwards you want to see how they do. Uh, so that's where we really learned a lot about the P. Uh, but anyway, it was fun, fun, fun learning from them.

18:39Besides, the boys come and they're just one more person. All the kids come and they're great, they bring the best vibes, so, well , it was really good, it was really good to have gotten into the sport, and they were all good, yes, the Johnsons, Milly, Parris, Eric, Dylan, but no, it was a really good experience , so we'll see how they do this weekend in the playoffs and what, and they do reflex drills

19:19because you know, the rallies are a little faster or closer than in tennis. Yes, we do. Uh, actually they like Andril a lot. Uh-huh . [laughs] Quite a few . Uh, totally simple. Look, we don't do anything out of the ordinary here. Hey, they're up against a wall, I throw little balls that hit the wall, boom, they catch them before they hit the floor. We do very simple things because

19:46at the end of the day you're looking to stimulate, in this case, well, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, but we do simple things, we don't look for anything crazy with what we do with the kids. Well, the truth is we prefer that they learn simple things in an extraordinary way and not that they learn extraordinary things and do them more or less because at the end of the day what you will learn from, what you will

20:17nourish yourself from, is the simple doing the extraordinary. Yes, it's very similar. Giving pick lessons, at the beginning obviously one learns as one goes, but people think that they are coming to their first class and I am going to teach them how to glue a din with tops. No way. First, first of all, we're going to see how certain parts of your game are, and before I show you how to hit the spin

20:45shot, I want you to hit this cone that's in the middle of the kitchen, because, like, before we start doing this slightly more complicated shot, I want you to make this shot and hit the cone, and when they see it, like, oh no, and they don't do it, they don't do it, and the class ends and it's like, ah, bro, I thought I had to find more, but actually what I have to do is improve my

21:09fundamentals, which I think is very similar to what you're telling me right now, that little by little we do something extraordinary instead of something completely different. Yes, yes, yes. Uh, that's the way, that's the way. We believe that sometimes they will be nourished much more by simple things than by totally complex things. Obviously, depending on each person's level, that's what we give them or what we don't give them. For example, if he hears me he'll

21:41kill me, but Georgia when she arrived or Jab when they arrived , they couldn't even jump over a crate. Today, three drawers jump out, one falls out, it jumps. So, from simple things that they kept improving, improving, improving, improving, today they are much better and it is clearly reflected on the court, in everyone, so yeah, that's the way we work here, both the pickle warers and the... here we put pressure on you here in the

22:19interview, you have to start making a couple of videos and put them on Instagram. Instagram so that people can continue learning. But, but, which player would you recommend people watch so they can imitate their movements on the court? They think, like, "Wow, this person can be a role model for people to learn how to move on the court because I do n't know if I can choose one." Sure, I do

22:51n't know if I can choose one. I think it would be a mix of some. I think JD has improved a lot in terms of your background gameplay. I think Georgia has improved a lot in the kitchen. Milly has also improved a lot, her returns and her serve returns are great. Well, Eric was, what can I tell you about Eric? Eric has a very tennis-like game, and you can see it

23:29because he's a guy who comes from playing tennis. Yes. And there are certain patterns, certain movements that you notice . This tennis game makes it easier for you to work. I think we're talking about the beginning or middle of the fact that there are players like Dylan who come from baseball, and then you have players like Eric who come from tennis, so it's more complicated with one, or depending on the case, you work on different things.

24:02I don't think it's a matter of whether it's complicated or not. Um, I think it's about the fact that they are different processes, so I, for example, compared to Eric or Jed, who already come with a foundation in tennis, Jed also played tennis, by the way. Ah, yes. Uh, yes. Uh, suddenly they have a much better grasp of how to move at the back of the court, uh, and hit an open stance, hit a

24:34close stance. eh to make a return from a serve. Hm. That a person like Bilan would say, eh, that suddenly he didn't grow up, no, no, he didn't grow up with that environment. So, the learning curve for someone coming from tennis when playing basics is going to be much easier than the learning curve for someone else. When the baseball player arrives, you suddenly go a little slower in teaching him the steps,

25:07with a little more patience, so to speak, because it's totally normal that, having not grown up with ACO or not having acquired certain movements, it's going to be a little difficult. I mention the boys because they are the ones I have contact with today, but just as it's difficult for them, it's going to be difficult for anyone. Mm. Ah. any. So, [snort] uh I think it's simply how one starts to teach certain

25:40things to a person who comes without any tennis background, to a person who comes to tennis, uh, but I think everything with time and work and so on gets done, it gets done , but you have to work. Give me a 30-minute routine with simple things that anyone can get at their gym or at home, like jumping rope or playing tennis. I know that in tennis, jumping rope was a religious thing,

26:16like you're going to jump rope before training, you're going to jump for 10 minutes for physical conditioning and then, I don't know, 5 minutes for the cool-down. Like, man, those things work the same for the pickable, or are they more like laes, or are we going to do some squads and squad jumps to improve your explosiveness, like, nothing more, I'll keep it simple because I know it can be complicated to explain it here in an

26:45interview. Okay , easy. We, well, here in the estimation we have a fairly predetermined structure that we will more or less be seeing on a daily basis, so to speak. Um, for example, with bandages, we always start with the preventive part, uh, and what is the mid-zone. Uh, as a preventative measure for the midsection you can do simple planks, side planks. You can hate the side ones. Yes, but they work. Uh, you can do Wolverines, uh,

27:35you can do crunches, you can do the famous pal of press, uh, you can do choppers for all the rotation stuff, you can do Russian twists, there you have a couple of ideas. Uh, then, generally, here we move on to the jumping part, which is the throwing part, uh, and jumps, which would involve everything that is power. Uh, to give you an example, in jumps you can do squats, uh you can do scissor jumps, one

28:07leg forward and the other jump and switch, jump, switch. And you can do that , you go with lateral jumps, uh, that you, I mean, you picket ball uses it a lot, which is obviously the lateral movement, when you go for the ear, not that salt hadn't made the connection there, you see? No, I learned that from the boys. I had no idea. Uh-huh Uh, then in the pitches I put

28:43the guys from P on, I make them do a lot. Two feet on the line or two feet on the same line. Yes. And with the medicine ball, I'll carry, throw, carry, throw, carry, throw for you that very repetitive movement in the kitchen. I carry, I throw, I carry, I throw , I carry, I throw, but with medicine balls. Another exercise that can be very simple to do anywhere is a downward slam with a

29:11medicine ball, or a chest press. There are millions of things you can do in the gym or at home. Then, here we generally move on to the strength training after having gone through the preventative exercises and the core, and then the power exercises . in the strength section. Well, obviously each sport suddenly has its own nuance, just like Pick Bol and tennis are very similar because they are also

29:41paddleball sports, and at the end of the day what you want to stimulate is strength. So, uh, Romanian Deadlifts, Squads, Lunges, uh Bulgarian Squads, uh Silenges, Coures, because the guys, well, obviously the lateral ones do a lot, uh, suddenly the lunge where you go a little diagonally backwards, uh, if I tell you the name of that exercise I don't remember it, but we do n't do it much. That's all for the lower body part.

30:17Then in upper body you can do a shoulder PR, you can do chest press, cross squat, the one where you take a step back. I don't remember, I don't remember. Well, I do it at the gym, but I don't remember the name either. I think I have a problem and a mix-up of the names of the exercises in English and Spanish. Obvious. Yes. Because of the confusion, and you tell me, "Explain this in English,

30:44because most of the classes I teach are in English, it's easy because it's repetitive. I'm going to say it in Spanish and it's like, and you know I stutter sometimes, everyone knows that, damn, it stuck with me, but it's because I'm used to it in English." Yes, yes, yes, come in, come in. Well, then , as I was saying, with the part that is uh upper body, uh everything that is vertical pushes, horizontal pushes,

31:12uh what is horizontal and vertical pulls too, which can be a row, can be a pull up, a chin-up. What else? Well, I think that's more or less where the truth is . Well , I think it gives you a little over 30 minutes of routine to do at home. [laughs] It's delicious. It's delicious. To wrap things up, I mean, tell me, and I'm being completely honest, what did you think of the pick before you started

31:47working with them? You thought it was simpler, you thought it was a fad, and what do you think now? And to be completely honest, because there are many people here who like to improve their pickleball skills by watching pickleballs on TV and vice versa. There are people who like to watch and don't like to play as much, so there are many opinions in the world, so I want you to be

32:11honest there with your question, with your answer, right? Look, honestly, before I thought about working with the boys, I didn't see it, I didn't play it, nothing. I mean, when I say zero, zero, I only knew that the sport existed. In fact, I don't think I was aware of how much it was growing, or the amount of money I was seeing in the professional PW, because nowadays it's also a

32:42reality that there's quite a lot of money being made in the professional scene. Uh, and well , let's see, nowadays I also watch it and follow it because of the boys, because obviously I'm always interested in whether they win, whether they lose, how they played, uh what they need to work on, uh what they improved, what they didn't improve. So, more on one hand, I want to have a reference point for how to continue

33:15working with the kids or how the kids are evolving, uh, I look at it mostly from that perspective these days. Well, how will things be in a few years? I think it's going to continue growing, and I mean, it's pretty clear that it's going to continue growing. Uh, I know I'm also very aware of the issue of contracts, how the contracts are and so on, uh, in terms of years. So, I know that even today,

33:50contracts are being signed for two, three, four years or more. So, you're already insured, but for a minimum of 5 years. Mm. And if this continues as it is, I think it's going to keep growing, it's going to keep growing and it's becoming , it's becoming, excuse me, increasingly popular, not only in the United States, but outside of the United States. Uh, if I'm not mistaken, the first courts were just built in Uruguay 3 months ago

34:20. It's been months and since I don't live there, I honestly didn't know, but I get the information and so on, but I think it's going to continue growing, it's becoming very popular, which is because I think it's good that it's a sport that started out very social, obviously , and I think there's a certain level that will continue to be very social as it is today, but at a professional level it will continue to expand

34:57outside of the United States, obviously. So let's see how things are going to be in a couple of years. Beautiful. But I have faith in him. I have faith in him. What do you think about every couple of years? How will it be? Listen, I know that in recreational terms, I know that in selfish terms, in terms of work for myself, to continue growing professionally. Well, it depends on where you ask, it depends on

35:24the day you ask me. There are days when I'm feeling really bad, like my professional peak is on the up. There are days when it seems like there are too many opinions, but if it doesn't work it's not because the sport isn't fun to play or even to watch live. Have you seen it live? In other words, professional. Yes, it's very, I mean, it's a sport that's not televised, but when you see it

35:52live and you see the exchanges of hands and the different angles, it's like, wow, it's really interesting. That's where we need to see how we can take that dynamism you see live and show it on television, you understand? Yes, I think so too, or from what I've seen, it's not seeing as much of an audience and the tournaments as they should, given what the sport really is today. Then suddenly that also makes you

36:35think a little, hey, will this continue to grow with the public issue or not? Mm. Uh, it's a bit tricky in that sense, but oh well, let's see. It depends, because if you go to Utah, where they released MLP Utah two weeks ago, there wasn't room for a single person, in Dallas there wasn't room for a single person, in New York MLP it's not that full, it depends a lot on the market.

37:05This is too big a country here when they say, "Oh no, tennis isn't popular in the United States." Well, brother, go to New York and try to find a court where you can play, right? A, that is, they are all full. Look, but if he tells you, "Ah, he's going to play Ayua." Ah, it's different. But it depends a lot on the market. Yes, yes, I hadn't thought of it that way either

37:28, but yes, it's true. And what was I going to say? What exactly do you want to promote? So, if I go to Bocarratón tomorrow, which I was actually going to do, and I go next weekend and you're not going to be there, can I schedule a class with you or are they a little more exclusive? How does that work? And it also promotes your Instagram pages, and that's not okay. Uh, zero exclusivity. Look,

37:52we get people of all ages, we get people of all levels, uh, for both sports. Anyone who wants to train and improve is welcome. No, no, sometimes people see certain faces and say, "Oh no, so- and-so trains there, no, I can't." No, nothing like that. As I said, we have girls from 8 years old and up. We are trying to develop a lot of players. Today with the kids we mainly have tennis players,

38:25but we try to develop many athletes, from an early age, I'd say around 8 or 10 years old, doing certain things twice a week is good. Let's go start the fire. Uh, and well, then Instagram, uh, I'm going to look at it because I don't remember, I never remember. My fitness is [laughs] emiberta under fitness and then the gym page is I'm a mess. Forra training. That's how it is. Beautiful. Well, brother,

39:12thank you very much. I hope to see you soon. Ah, I think I'm going to the Davis Cup at the King's Beach. We're working on that with my husband, we'd love to see you at the Red Bach Virgin Cup in September. Did you know? You did n't know. [laughs] And we want to go. So if we go I'll let you know, and it's been a long time and I hope to see you

39:33soon, and well, thanks for your time and I wish you all the best in New York. We're talking, and well , we'll stay in touch for whatever you need. Thank you, brother. Go ahead , take care.